Though We May Fall
by rachaelhighway
Summary: So, we have a new babysitter, a new cello teacher, three new teachers, and a new bus driver. And we're pretty positive that at least two of them are Avengers. Maybe three. According to positive evidence? One. And some dude named Loki is trying to get us to side with him. Yeah, I think they're on to us...
1. Chapter 1

**Hello all! Guess what? I have written a fanfiction! I hope you enjoy it greatly, as I have nothing further to say. :D**

Chapter 1

The Biology classroom gets extremely hot after I discover I can create fire with my fingers. I suppose that can be expected, right? My forehead begins sweating as I look around to see if anyone noticed, and my heart beats faster in my chest. Luckily, nobody seems to have seen how my fingers seemed to catch on fire out of nowhere. I guess it's a good thing I wasn't holding a pencil or something…

I look at my fingers, expecting to see them burned from the small flames that just appeared on them. But, along with my surprise that there was no pain, there are no scorch marks. Only fingers. Struggling to breath normally, I curl my hands into fists and get the attention of my friend, Rayna, who shares this class with me. She seems to read my mind, as her brow furrows and she says softly, "Another?"

I nod. "I need to get out of here," I reply, matching her tone because I won't be heard if I whisper. I wipe my forehead with my jacket sleeve. Then I stand, shoving my fists into the pockets of my thin gray jacket, striding to the teacher's desk to request my dismissal. Mrs. Sear accepts and I exit the room, walking down the hallway a short way and entering the bathroom. After a quick check of the stalls, I am relieved to find that I am alone. Sighing deeply, I approach the mirror and stare at my reflection. My thick, wavy hair falls past my shoulders and frames my face equally well. My bangs fall over my forehead, giving me a false sense of security—somehow, I always feel less exposed with my bangs hanging just above my eyes, rather than my old cut that let my hair fall to the sides and even tuck behind my ears. It helps me feel like I'm blending in, and I think it works, too, because the only people who actually talk to me are my friends, which is just fine by me. My once thick layer of eyeliner has rubbed to a rather thin line, making me look as if I'm not wearing anything at all, yet still looking pretty good. I take in my appearance in the mirror, and notice, besides all of the details, that I look almost scared. Pale. Thin. Tired.

_No_. I grab a paper towel from the metal dispenser on the wall and wet it, flinching when my fingers buzz violently at the feel of water running over them. I jerk my hands back, dropping the paper towel in the sink, and examine my fingers, which only feel a prickling sensation in them, like they have fallen asleep. _What's happening to me? To us? _I sigh in defeat and rub my fingers on my jeans, drying them and calming them, then turn off the water and pick up the paper towel. I run it over my face and breath deeply at the refreshing feeling. When I'm finished, I feel better; a bit more awake. So I throw the paper towel away and decide that I need to get to business. My time here is limited, so I need to make the best of it.

I dry my hands once more and look, staring at them for a few moments, unsure of what to do. What did I do last time? _Nothing. I was thinking of how bored I was of the class and of how many hours of sleep I got last night when it happened_. I think I just need to concentrate on it like I've done with my other power I've gained recently.

So, holding my breath, I close my eyes. With a slight kick, I feel a surge of energy enter my body, a trickle running down my arm and into my palms. It feels like I'm using a muscle in my mind I've never known of before, and it's clumsy and out of practice. Yet my fingers suddenly feel a slight tingling in them, so I open my eyes and smile at the sight. There, dancing on my fingers, are small flames.

[][][]

This is not the first time this has happened. I mean, I've never had fire materialize on my fingers before, but this isn't the first time something as strange as this has occurred. A couple of days ago, I found out that I can move objects without the help of my hands—telekinesis, if you will. It's pretty awesome so far. But unfortunately, I haven't been able to use it a lot, as we are trying to keep a low profile. No using powers in school, or at home unless nobody is around. Yesterday, my friends and I all got together at my friend Upuli's house, and we went out into a field that nobody ever goes to and used our new abilities freely. Of course, at the time, we were still panicked and didn't know what the heck is wrong with us, as we all began developing random (yet amazing) abilities throughout the last few days. We held a long discussion, and eventually came to the conclusion that something must have happened to us that allowed us to have these superhuman capabilities. What that is, exactly, we have no clue. Could it have something to do with the Avengers? Ha—wouldn't that be cool? But they all live in New York City (I think?), and we are just random school kids that live halfway across the country in a small hick town. There is no explanation as to why we are randomly sharing similarities with the heroes. Yet.

I sigh as I sit down at the lunch table, exhausted by the events of the past week. Well, I suppose it's been more than just this week... The ordeal in New York City with the Avengers vs. Aliens last month has taken its toll on everybody. Watching on TV in class how those aliens came and wrecked pretty much everything, killing countless innocent people and then watching the heroes come and save the day… it was pretty intense. But hey, there was no school for a week, so it's all cool.

Soon my friends come and gather at the table with questioning looks on their faces. I look at each of them in turn: Landes, Kylin, Upuli, Emily, Sam, Kidist, then Rayna. The orch dork girls. Oh, and there's also me, Rachael. Hello, there.

I mentioned while passing them in the halls that I've got a new power, but there were no time for questions until now. So I wait for them to sit at the circular table around me, and the questions start.

I laugh. "Okay, so apparently I can make fire," I explain quickly.

Every one of their jaws drop.

"How… how did you not get caught?!" Landes asks incredulously.

I laugh again excitedly, thinking once more about how I could have been doing _anything _at that moment when my fingers flashed with that flame—playing with my hair, holding my paper, shaking someone's hand, writing something on the board… it's a miracle that my hands were sweating. That's the only reason I put my pencil down.

"I was lucky," I reply shortly.

"Yeah, apparently," Kylin says, eyebrows raised, nodding.

"So, let's list 'em now," I declare, leaning over the table, deciding against lowering my voice a bit—it's so loud in this cafeteria, I'm not really that paranoid about people overhearing us when I can hardly hear across the table. "There's me, with telekinesis and now fire. Then there's Upuli, with shape shifting. Kylin, with geokinesis—"

"With what?" Emily interrupts.

"Geokinesis," I repeat, then elaborate. "I looked it up last night. It's what we call 'the ability to control the earth.' Which is Kylin's power."

"Oh. Cool," Emily replies.

I laugh. "Yeah. And she can read minds. And of course, her knack for being a supernatural genius."

Kylin beams.

"Then there's yours"—I point to Emily—"which is invisibility, and… wall crawling?"

"I guess so!" she replies. Yesterday, when we were all testing our abilities together, I looked over to see her step on the side of a tree, testing its weight, then suddenly taking another step and walking sideways as if gravity had suddenly shifted ninety degrees. Of course, then after that, Emily had become aware of what she was doing and freaked out and fell. But, after getting all of our attention, she tried it again with her hands, sharing a scary resemblance to Spiderman. (I'm beginning to wonder if we are turning into superheroes.) Speaking of Spiderman…

"So, then we have Landes, with her teleportation, silver tongue, and her remarkable new Spidey senses, which help out with her combat skills."

"I think that's a sign or something, you guys," Upuli interrupts. "Well, all of this is. We have powers, and we're also, like, ninjas. I think we're going to save the world someday." She sits back, satisfied with her declaration.

We all laugh simultaneously. "How cool would that be?" Kylin replies, although we all know to keep our doubts.

After that dies down, I go on. "Anyway, then there's Kidist, with weather and plant manipulation—and of course her charm. Then Rayna, who can fly? And can breathe underwater. And finally, Sam, who is crazy fast, can control people's emotions on a frightening level, and has technokinesis."

I feel a couple of people begin to ask questions about the last word, but it dies down, as everyone knows what I mean. Technokinesis, "the mental manipulation of electric and digital technology." (that's a bit wordy for me, I promise I'm not really a nerd. Well, okay, maybe a little…) Technokinesis seems like a pretty crafty tool. Who needs a hacker when you've got magic?

_Magic._

The word seems to stop everything around me, and I bite my tongue as if the word is poisonous and I just swallowed it. Did I really just say magic? Could it _actually be magic? _Of course it is. What else could it be, science? Well I'd love to see the formula for these _tests._ These _experiments. _No, it can't be science. It's magic. _Magic. _We are, what now? Magicians.

I look up.

_Hogwarts, here I come!_

Although it's not like that. We are not wizards or witches. There are no _spells _we use. We simply _are._

Which makes us awesome.

"Okay, I'm getting food," I declare, snapping out of my trance and standing from my seat. "Who's coming?"

[][][]

The bell finally rings and I exit my class hurriedly. I go through my usual routine: avoiding people, going to my locker, avoiding people, meeting up with friends, avoiding more people, grabbing my violin, grabbing a couple of my friends who can come, and making a run for it. We decided earlier that we will meet at Upuli's house again, and continue to take control over our powers. Only, not all of us could come, having their own personal matters to attend. So I take Upuli, Landes, and Kylin in my car and we drive to the house.

About thirty minutes later, we are fed again and are walking to the field hidden behind Upuli's house. We go deeper into the field this time, closer to the forest, for fear of being seen. We don't stop until there is no civilization in sight—just us, and our powers.

We all smile at each other when we stop, just before I summon my fire quicker than ever before and shoot it in Landes' direction. She yells in shock, but dodges it just in time. I expected to shoot just a fireball, but since the ability is new and I am unsure of how to use it completely, I can't stop it from coming out of my hands. So my wanted element of quick surprise is ruined when the surprise can't stop, shooting flames as if my hands are a fire torch. I yell in confused frustration, wanting it to stop. So, thinking of how I turned it on, or turned it off last time, I close my eyes and use the new muscle in my head that turned the fire on, like a switch, and it flips off easily.

I breathe out in relief—what would have happened if I couldn't turn it off and I aimed down? I would have started a wildfire! "I need to think of better ways to use this," I think aloud.

"Yeah," Upuli replies. "How about… a fire ball? Mario style?"

I sigh. "That's what I just tried to do."

"Well, turn off your hands sooner," Landes suggests.

I think about this, then nod. "Okay," I say. I make fire materialize in my hands just as quickly as before, holding my hands out of the way of everything, and shut it off just as quickly—which causes it to dissipate into the air as if it was never there. I groan.

"Maybe you should try shooting it? Like, straighten out your arm as soon as you make fire so it actually gets off your hand?" Kylin proposes.

I nod and do as she says. It takes a couple of tries, but in a minute, I've got fire shooting in a ball across the field and striking a tree nearby, where it dissolves into a thin puff of smoke. I smile. Once I have that power under control, we try playing with each other once more. Upuli shape shifts into a black lab, running around us in circles, while Kylin uses her geokinesis to control a root coming out of the ground and tripping her. Landes and I wrestle for a little bit, but that doesn't last long. Once I have her successfully on the ground, she teleports behind me and pushes me to the ground instead. With this, I grab Kylin's root from her mind's grasp with my telekinesis and make it wrap around Landes' ankle, tripping her so she lands beside me. This goes on for a couple of hours, until I realize that my family is probably wondering where I am. I forgot to text them about where I was going, again.

Kylin stops as she realizes this, also, remembering that she has a test in Algebra 2 tomorrow that she needs to study for. As we all come to this realization, we grudgingly quit for the day, walking slowly back toward Upuli's house. And just before we see civilization again, I turn and, out of partial anger (mostly just to let out the rest of my steam), I shoot two columns of fire from my hands. It feels so good, the way heat spreads through me as if I'm taking a hot shower. I close my eyes in the last blissful moment of it. Then I stop, knowing to control myself before I set the field on fire, or before someone sees. But they won't—we're still far away from the city.

_Wishful thinking, _I think as I turn around and see a man.

He is tall, with long black hair slicked back away from his face that falls relatively neatly at his shoulders behind his ears. But it is his clothes that tear me away from his face before I can take in all of it: he wears what seems to be armor, I guess, mostly all black but with shades of green here and there. I can tell you this: his attire is definitely not that common, here. _On Earth._

_Oh, quit being so paranoid, _I tell myself. _Just because aliens exist and can come to Earth doesn't mean they're _everywhere. _Besides, the aliens in New York City looked nothing like humans!_

The man's mouth finally opens to speak, his grim, yet incredulous expression never leaving his face just as his eyes never leave mine. "How did you do that?"

**To be continued!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! Back so soon, yes I know. :] Here's more of these new people! Avengers will come in the next chapter, promise! Enjoy.**

Chapter 2

"Uh…" I stammer, unsure of what to do. So I do what I always do when I can't think of anything else to say: play it dumb. There's obviously no question as to if I really just did shoot fire out of my hands. "Well, I put my hands up, summoned a little fire, and shot it out of my hands. It's very refreshing—you should try it sometime! Well, if you can."

My friends stare at me, not protesting that I just told this stranger that I just shot columns of fire out of my hands. They're probably thinking the same thing I did: he's pretty convinced that I really did just do that, and there's not really a clever way to talk out of it. Instead, Upuli steps up to the man.

"Who are you?" she asks.

He shifts his gaze to her, finally, then says with the utmost bravado, "I am Loki. Do you mind sharing the same information with me?"

Landes steps up this time, her talents coming in handy as she says innocently, "I'm Lucy. These are my friends, Lei, Isabelle, and Torah." She points to Kylin, me, then Upuli.

This guy—Loki—smirks in response. "You are a talented liar, little girl, but it is the same way that a pathological liar cannot outwit another like himself in which we stand," he says.

This makes Landes drop her innocent façade, her expression dissipating into an irritated glare. "So I'm guessing your name isn't Loki either?" she presumes.

This makes him laugh in a way that makes my skin crawl. "It is," he replies, then begins walking casually, head turned toward us. "So how did you get these powers?" he asks. "It is very rare that I see commoners like yourselves with such gifts."

I narrow my eyes. _So he saw more than just the fire… _"Forgive us for not telling you everything we know, but… we are just a couple of teenagers and you're an… odd looking fellow talking as if we aren't from Earth or something."

He raises a brow, slightly amused. "And is there truth behind that fact?" he asks.

Now it's my turn to be amused. "We are from around. But I'm beginning to think you're not."

Loki almost laughs. "I continue to be surprised at how intelligent you all turn out to be."

"Well, yeah, we're not idiots," I retort, crossing my arms over my chest. "Especially not _Lei _over here." I think of how Kylin can watch someone do something for a minute, then turn around and do it even better without having done it in her entire life. Yeah, she's what you would call your straight A student. Try and beat that.

"So tell me," Loki goes on. "What caused you to have powers such as these?"

I sigh. This guy does not give up, does he?

"Dunno," I reply truthfully. "We just started developing them recently. Especially after the, ah, alien invasion in New York City." I hope this triggers something about him... I hesitate. "Do _you _have any idea why this could be happening?"

He stops, the expression melting off of his face. So he has _some _idea. "I'm not sure of your case," Loki says slowly. "Although it could have something to do with the invasion." He almost stumbles over the last word.

I raise a brow. "Oh, yeah? What makes you think so?"

"The energy source that was allowing the aliens to come in," he replies, "That could have something to do with it."

"But why _us, _when we're just random kids that live halfway across the country?" I press, hoping to get some more information out of him.

"I know not," Loki replies defensively. "But I am interested in figuring that out."

"Yeah, get in line," I say, digging at the dirt under my fingernails.

"So how about you, Loki?" Landes asks, changing the subject. "Any special powers? Or are you not as cool as us?" She ignores our warning glances.

Loki only smirks. "I have several," he decides to admit.

"So, what? We show you ours, you show us yours?" Landes asks.

This seems to amuse him further, and I can tell he's probably thinking, _eh, why not? _When he stops his pacing and says, "Alright. Let's see them."

My friends look at me first, so I know what to do. I look at Landes for confirmation, wondering if she wants me to do what I think she's wanting me to do. When she tilts her head up just the slightest measurement, my suspicions are confirmed. Although my power with fire is not completely fluent yet, I try the best I can. I feel the rushing heat to my palms when my hands are still at my sides, and I pretend to be getting ready to shoot it elsewhere. But in less than a second, I have my hand pointed toward Loki and am shooting fire at him.

From here, my plans are simple: shoot this crazy alien stalker with my flames, have him writhing on the ground while he is on fire, then run like hell! But these plans are ruined when something unexpected happens from Loki. The fire doesn't reach him. Instead, when I get a clear look at it, he is shooting ice from himself, fighting off the fire with its opposing element. When I look at his face with shock evident on mine, he is only smirking. Again. And not only that, but it looks like his face has turned blue, and his once green eyes now red. So, alien? Yes. Despite that, I find myself fighting to keep an equal amount of fire on his increasing amount of ice, and failing slightly. Because suddenly, I feel the same buzzing in my fingers that I did earlier in the bathroom sink, the same buzzing as if I was holding my phone in my hands and it was vibrating. Only this buzzing _hurts, _causing icy fingers to stroke my arm cruelly down to my shoulder blades, causing me to gasp and lessen my grasp on the fire for a moment. But I know that I can't let it down now—if I do, then what? His ice might touch me and would freeze me or something. Which just might kill me. So I bite my tongue and fight to win this.

Thankfully, my friends get the memo, and Landes teleports behind my attacker and shoves her pocket knife into his back. Loki ceases his defense on me with a yell, stopping the frost from his hands as Landes yanks the knife back. I stop my fire and watch as Loki (who has returned to his normal, human-looking form) doubles over slightly, a disbelieving smirk forming across his face. _Oh God, he is crazy. He just got stabbed_ _and he's _smiling_._ Never talk to strangers, kids. They could be manic, magical aliens who want to stalk you.

Upuli and Kylin come to my aid as I fall to my knees, but I pay no attention as I watch wearily as blood slowly drips from his wound, staining his clothes, weakening him more by the second. I want him to fall, but he doesn't. His smirk only grows and the blood gradually stops. Suddenly, I realize it: he's healing himself. In a matter of seconds, he is back on his feet, straightened, fully healed, with a bigger smile that begs the question: _Impressed?_

"So, do we want to do this again?" Loki asks, then looks at Upuli and Kylin, who haven't done much in the battle yet. "You two? Need to let off some steam?"

Upuli scoffs. "Gladly."

And with that, she shape shifts into a gorilla. Yeah, you read that right. I laugh even in my state, pushing off the ground with my hands and trying to clear my head to join in. But when I stand, I watch as Upuli the Gorilla runs straight through Loki, who doesn't even move until he disappears. Before I even have time to be confused, Loki reappears next to Kylin, tapping her shoulder, smiling. Kylin comes back swinging, having to aim up to clip him in the face. Only she doesn't clip him in the face, because he disappears again. This time, when he reappears, there are multiple clones of him.

I count four, one for each of us. One has appeared beside me, with which I quickly shoot with fire before he can react. Only when I look up, the fire goes straight through him. I stop, standing a bit taller, and try punching him in the face. He blocks it easily though, his arm against mine feeling completely natural, compared to how I could blast right through him only a second ago. _This is weird._

As I fight hand to hand with him, every once in a while testing the fire to him, I think of all of the bosses in Zelda I've ever defeated. There's always a strategy in the games, always a loophole, always a weak spot. Perhaps this applies to real life as well? I doubt it, but if it's true I need to find out. And fast. What I know right now is that he is holding back on killing us—he's showing off. He's messing with us. Laughing at us. So we need to get serious.

_How is he controlling all of them?_

I think of my other power, telekinesis. I haven't used that in a while, so I use it on my version of Loki to twist his arms away from me, throwing him backwards with my mind. He hits the ground several yards away, and I take this moment to check up on my fellow comrades. Kylin has her legs wrapped around Loki's neck, jerking backward to take him to the ground, then using her geokinesis to pin him down with the roots of trees. Landes is slicing extremely expertly with a knife, hardly missing Loki with it. He just jumps away and dodges just in time. And Upuli is playing ragdoll with him, smashing him against the ground repeatedly with her gorilla strength, then turning into a tiger and biting at his throat. I almost laugh, if he didn't disappear again and reappear behind her.

I am brought back to reality by my attacker, who appears again, right beside me. Only this version of Loki looks different than the one I was just fighting. I don't know how, but perhaps this one looks more… real?

I am distracted by Landes' voice that calls out, "_Find the real Loki!" _Apparently she found our weak spot.

I look back at Loki, the real one, who only smiles. He knows I realize that he's the real one. Perhaps I can hurt him severely enough that he will take away all of the other versions of him? I'm sure he wants to end this just as much as us. It's just a matter of who wins.

So I tackle Loki to the ground. He falls surprisingly fast under me, and I stick my hand in front of his face and launch fire at his face. Although before it hits him, he disappears again, sending me tumbling to the ground a short ways. I almost scream in frustration if I didn't hear him ending it behind me. After I hesitate, hearing him behind me, I stand, turning to see him laughing, and only one of him laughing. Loki is completely unharmed, not the slightest of a scratch on his face. Behind him, Upuli shrinks back to her regular form, glaring wildly. Kylin has a bloody nose, and Landes has a pretty nasty cut below her bottom lip.

"Oh, that was fun," Loki says finally, recovering from his crazed laughter.

"I agree," I say, surprising everyone. Hey, better that than being angry. That seems like it would give Loki a better advantage to me.

Loki laughs. "Indeed. You are far better than I had originally thought."

"Don't underestimate us next time," Kylin retorts.

Again, with that smirk. "I will keep that in mind. But you know,"—he begins his extremely slow pacing thing again—"you still have much to learn. Being new to these gifts and all… I could help out some."

Landes and I exchange dumbfounded glances.

"Um… thanks and all, but I think we've got it," Landes replies.

Loki stops and smiles a little bit. "Think about it," he says in an eerie tone. And what frightens me is that I actually stopped to think about it for a moment.

"Okay," I reply slowly with a creeped out smile, spacing out the syllables, giving him a thumbs up.

"Nice meeting you and all," Kylin says as we all begin walking away. "But I've an Algebra 2 test tomorrow that I still need to study for…"

And with that, we all turn and walk away without a glance back. But something catches my eye as we begin walking around the neighborhood, obviously not being so stupid as to go straight to Upuli's house so Loki knows where one of us lives, and curse when I see it. It's a camera, mounted on a pole, aiming directly where we were just fighting.

**Ooh! Will word get out? As I said, Avengers in next chapter (which will be out shortly) so stick around! Oh and review please, they make me very happy. Have a blessed day. :]**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey you guys! Just as promised, here is chapter three, with the Avengers. It's mostly in Hawkeye's POV, so yay for Clint! Enjoy! And review please! :D**

Chapter 3

"Hawkeye, what's your status?"

Natasha's voice fills Clint's ears through the comms unit just as the target comes into view behind the glass window in the building across the street.

"I have eyes on Walker," he replies quietly, pulling an arrow from the quiver against his back and notching it to the string on his bow, having already entered the code minutes before.

"Good. I'm in position. Whenever you're ready."

"Five seconds," Clint replies, and Natasha knows what he means. Clint counts down the remaining seconds of Aaron Walker's life, then releases the arrow. It shatters the glass and hits the target. In the same instant that happens, his partner moves from her position. Through the comms unit, he hears a lot of scuffling, and sighs proudly. Typical Natasha, always beating up people as if it is nothing. He begins packing up his sniping weapons from the rooftop.

"All clear," Natasha declares.

"Good. Head back to rendezvous point. I'll be there in a minute."

[][][]

Half an hour later, Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton arrive at the safe house a few miles from Walker's office. Following protocol, Clint pulls out his cell phone and contacts one of the head agents, Maria Hill.

"The job is done," he says simply. Clint is used to calling Phil Coulson after a job is finished, but, seeing how that isn't exactly an option, he uses the ones he does have.

"Just in time," Agent Hill replies. "We have another mission for you."

Clint suppresses a groan. "Another? This would be the fourth one this week."

"It's urgent," she replies. "And it's for the Avengers."

Now, this catches his attention. "Alright, we'll be there tomorrow morning."

"There will be a plane waiting for you at eight."

"Got it." Clint almost hangs up, but hesitates. "Is that all?"

"So far."

"Okay."

He hangs up.

[][][]

"No, its name will _not _be Tuna!"

That's what Steve Rogers is saying as Clint walks into the room.

"Why not?" Tony argues. "It's my fish!"

"It will not be Tuna because it _is a fish!"_ Rogers goes on. "Do you know that tuna is a type of fish that we eat!?"

Tony sighs in exasperation at his point.

Clint observes the scene before walking in and taking a seat. Tony, Thor, Bruce, and Steve are seated around a table, with a goldfish in a bowl of water in the middle. Thor and Bruce are sitting quietly, looking either bored or tired at the argument going on between Steve and Tony. Clint decides to take this window and cut into the conversation.

"What's going on?"

Tony turns his attention to Clint sharply. "I was told that a pet would be good for me," he begins. "But I don't need any dog running around getting into my stuff, and cats are even more hairy. So I got a fish. Easy to handle, no mess, and you can just stick it on a shelf and claim that you have a pet. So look! I have a pet." He gestures dramatically to the goldfish. "And as I was deciding on what to name it, Captain here got all picky about the names I was choosing, even though it's _my fish!"_

Clint sighs as he slides into a seat. "Just name it Johnny and be done with it. It's a fish, dude."

Tony clenches his jaw at his statement, as he realizes that somebody besides him is actually right. He scoots the fishbowl closer to him defensively.

Natasha and Nick Fury walk in at the same time. Natasha picks the only open seat on the end of the table, and Fury throws down file.

"We have a situation," he starts.

"Oh, isn't there always?" Tony interrupts, throwing a glare Steve's way.

"It's a serious situation," Fury counters. "It has to do with Loki."

This gets everyone's attention.

"Loki escaped Asgard recently, and has apparently been laying low here on Earth," Fury continues. "We found him on several video cameras around the middle of the country. But this isn't even the biggest point." Several quizzical expressions allow him to go on. "In that same place where Loki has been found, is a video that raised several questions." He then gestures to the end of the table where there is a TV screen, and clicks a button on a remote to play the video.

Clint isn't sure what he expected. Terrorists, perhaps. Loki, being all… _himself, _maybe. But what he ends up seeing throws him off completely. Four teenage girls walk into the line of sight, and then one of them turns around and shoots—_fire?! _Out of her hands. _What? _He continues to gape in disbelief as the girl stops the fire, turns around and sees the one and only Loki. Loki's back is facing the camera, but it is undoubtedly him, with his Asgardian getup and slicked back hair. Since he has no sceptre this time, his arms are crossed in front of his chest casually. The four girls look a bit shocked that he's there, and freeze when Clint assumes Loki is saying something.

"Do we have any audio?" Tony asks.

"Unfortunately, no," Fury replies, causing Tony to murmur something about southern hicks or something, Clint isn't sure.

The one who shot fire out of her hands says something, looking uncertain at first but recovering quickly. She finishes her speech with a smile and what everyone guesses is some smartass comment. The other three girls glance at the fourth uncertainly: perhaps what she said wasn't the best idea? A girl to the right of the fire one speaks next, a simple question that Clint can read easily: "Who are you?" Loki drops his arms and introduces himself, at which point Clint stops paying attention to that. Instead he begins gathering profiles. There are four of them. Two Caucasian: one with dark blonde hair (the one who shot fire), and one with light blonde hair. There is one Indian girl with a long braid and an Asian with glasses. All of the girls seem rather calm about Loki. The dark blonde has been doing most of the talking so far, and she seems to be knowing what she's doing. Her sarcastic-looking comments, the way she digs under her fingernails when the conversation is reaching a boring point, or her facial expressions that help set the tone she wants. The next one to speak is the light blonde, who he notices holds the same tone-setting gestures and smirks when the time is right. Loki stops his pacing then, looking at the girls, and says something.

"Keep watching," Fury says, noticing that a couple of Avengers have stopped paying attention after the long conversation.

Three girls look at the dark blonde again, expecting her to do something. She looks at the light blonde for confirmation, then turns slightly to the side. But then she turns at the last second and shoots fire from her hands—right at Loki. But as quickly as she unsheathes her weapon, Loki unsheathes his. Fire is suddenly fighting ice in the space between them, the dark blonde with a concentrated expression on her face, whereas Loki only wears his usual smirk. But he looks different this time: his face is blue, and his eyes are red. _What the heck? _And Loki seems to be winning, as a pained expression crosses his opponent's face. This doesn't last long, though, as the light blonde suddenly disappears from her spot, reappearing behind Loki and stabbing him with a pocket knife.

The battle between fire and ice end, and they all watch in shock as Loki—heals himself. Of course he healed himself. A bit annoyed at that, Clint watches as he speaks again to the girls. Something he said must have pissed them off, because then the one with the braid steps forward and turns into a gorilla.

"What—?" Tony says in disbelief.

Steve shakes his head as we continue to watch. The gorilla runs straight toward Loki, who doesn't even move. Well, not until the gorilla reaches him—then he disappears. He reappears beside the Asian girl, tapping her shoulder. She swings with a punch, but he disappears again. This time, when he reappears, there are four of him. Each Loki takes on one of the girls, and suddenly they are watching four battles at once. Clint watches all of them in turn, but finds his gaze mostly fixed on the light blonde girl's fight. She uses her knife mostly when she fights. There is one point when Loki knocks it out of her hand they fight without it, but she eventually gets it back. Tony watches the dark blonde, how she shoots fire out of her hands when she gets the chance around her wrestling with him. Bruce watches with an amused look on his face as he watches the girl with a braid (who is currently in the form of a gorilla) throws Loki around like a ragdoll for a couple of seconds before that version of Loki yells (probably from serious flashbacks) and disappears, appearing behind her again. Natasha, however, keeps her gaze fixed upon the Asian, who is fighting like a ninja, using several of the same methods she herself uses in combat. The Asian's power, however, comes in handy also. The way she suddenly summons roots out of the ground to pin him down… Natasha smiles.

Finally, the battle ends. All of the Loki's disappear, and only one reappears, in the middle of them all, apparently laughing. He says something, but the girls don't look amused. That is, until the dark blonde smirks and plays along, but none of her friends get it. There's some more small talk after that, until he allows the girls to leave the scene. Right before they exit the side of the screen, the dark blonde looks up straight at the Avengers—straight at the camera—and she narrows her eyes, either afraid or angry, Clint can't tell before she's gone. All that's left is Loki on the screen now, and he only smirks before he walks away in a different direction. The TV turns off.

"Okay, _what the hell!?" _Tony yells when the room is silent again, and the discussion begins.

"How can they do that?"

"Why was Loki there?"

"More importantly, why was he messing with them?"

"What?"

"Well, _obviously_ he wasn't trying to kill them," Natasha goes on when everyone else shuts up at her comment. "Did you not see that? He was just laughing at them! He spoke with them! He did all of that just to play with someone who was evenly matched with him!"

"Are you saying that he's bored?"

"Yeah! That's exactly what I'm saying!"

"And he's hiding."

"Ha-ha, hey, Bruce. Did you see how she—"

"Yeah, I did, Tony. Quite funny."

"Is Loki wanting them to work with him?"

"Yes, Captain." Nick Fury's voice booms over all the others, making everyone pay attention. "We have reason to believe that Loki _is_ wanting them to work with him."

"Do we have names for these kids?" Tony asks, then looks upon the file Fury threw on the table with curious eyes. "What's in the files?"

"Names," Fury replies simply, opening them and strewing papers about the table so everyone can see.

Clint takes in each one closely, matching the teen's pictures to the video. The dark blonde one is named Rachael Highway. She is fifteen, attends Lancaster High School in northern Oklahoma. The light blonde is Landes Bayer, also fifteen, also attending Lancaster High School. The Indian girl with the braid is Upuli Perera, same information. The Asian girl is Kylin Chen. So Rachael can shoot fire, and apparently has… telekinesis? Landes can teleport. Upuli can shape shift. And Kylin can control… roots. Or maybe she also has control over plants? Or perhaps it's earth in general?

Bruce speaks, taking Clint out of his thoughts. "But they're just _kids. _Why would he want to side with them?"

"Perhaps he is desperate?" Thor suggests.

"He's _that _desperate? To need the help of a couple of children?" Tony asks incredulously.

"Hey, you speak like since they're kids, they can't do much," Natasha points out. "But I just saw the four of them kick Loki's ass. Several of them, actually."

"We shouldn't underestimate them," Captain agrees.

The room gets quiet in a silent agreement. Then Tony asks Fury, "So what do you want us to do?"

"I need you," Fury replies, "to go watch them. Watch for Loki. Find out if they're the only ones with these powers and why they have them. Get close to them. And don't blow your covers."

"Which are?" Clint asks.

Fury smiles.

**Tehe! Stay tuned… for the next chapter will be out by tomorrow! And reviews are lovely as well. :D thanks for readin!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Use a British accent when you read this note, it's fun! Well, I am sorry for not updating earlier, I was too busy watching Avengers movies lol. Was sick today. Not fun. :( Anyways! Here's the next chapter! (I love saying "chapter" in a British accent) Enjoy!**

Chapter 4

Babysitting. After everything Natasha does for a living, everything she's done for S.H.I.E.L.D., beating people up or getting captured for her to run an interrogation, or assassinating people, they have submitted her to babysitting.

Natasha sighs. Although however the title may be, it isn't a bad idea. It is probably the closest she'll get to the targets on an emotional level. Always being there for one of the marks, picking them up from school, being in one of the girl's homes for most of her time… She know the team relies on her the most for this. It's one thing to be watching them from the front of a classroom (yeah, stay tuned), compared to what she's about to commit herself to.

Natasha breathes deeply as she goes over all of the information in her head when she pulls up to the driveway. _Landes Bayer, fifteen years old, in tenth grade, has two little brothers—_wait. _You aren't supposed to know all of this yet. She's not the usual kind of mark, Nat. You should be focusing on your own story. Okay, so, Alexandria Riley. Twenty-nine. Here because… I need the experience… for the family I am about to start. Yeah. Good enough._

With that, she opens the car door. She approaches the front porch and rings the doorbell. Within seconds, Landes' mother answers.

"Hello?" Leena Bayer inquires.

"Hi, my name's Alex," Natasha lies as she throws a kind smile at the mother.

"Oh, Alex! Of course! Come on in!" Leena opens the door wider, gesturing for the assassin to enter.

Natasha is surprised when she sees two little dogs running toward her and jumping in excitement at her feet when she comes in. At this she laughs—Alex Riley loves dogs. And they aren't the end of the welcoming committee, Natasha presumes, as two little boys come running in from the other room.

Leena laughs. "These are my sons, Harlan and Luca. And my daughter is around _somewhere, _probably in her room…" At this, she calls for Landes, and within seconds, Natasha meets eyes with the blonde girl from the video. The one who can teleport.

Natasha smiles and greets all of them as kindheartedly as she can muster, mentally jotting notes about them. Landes seems nice, well-mannered, definitely putting a cap on all that she's capable of. But hey, she knows a couple of people who are experts at that as well. Harlan and Luca seem nice and innocent now, too. Harlan looks to be about twelve, with short blonde hair sprouting on his head, whereas Luca has a head full of thick, black hair, sharing a similar gene with his mother, looking to be about nine.

An hour later, Natasha is alone in the house with the kids. Landes has retreated back to her room, and the boys are battling mercilessly on the Wii. _I can do this, _she thinks confidently as she turns to the boys. _Ensure that the littler ones are comfortable first. Then see what information we can get from Landes._

"Hey, boys," Natasha says in a child-friendly voice, kneeling down to their level. "What're you doing?"

"I'm beating Luca at ruling the world," Harlan replies proudly, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"No you're not!" Luca objects, fighting violently with the remote. "Don't you see I'm winning? _I will rule the galaxy_! And there's nothing you can do about it, oh Mighty Harlan. I am king of this game!"

"Oh, we'll see about that," Harlan challenges.

"Yeah. Hey, guess what? I've got an army, now!"

At Luca's last comment, Natasha draws in a sharp breath. _Oh, the irony… _she admires, thinking of Thor and Loki. _I wonder if they joked about what is so serious now when they were children?_

"Glad you're having fun," Natasha says after watching Luca win the game with horror dwelling inside of her. "I'm going to go talk to your sister."

"She's probably in her room, being boring as usual," Harlan informs, at which the agent laughs.

The walk to Landes' room is short; she barely begins walking down the hall when she sees a sign with Landes' name really big across the top. So Natasha knocks on the door a little. She is met with silence at first, before a quick, smooth reply of "Come in" from the girl. Natasha opens the door and enters, meeting eyes with the mark with a smile, then taking in the room quickly. It is painted green and blue, split down the middle with a wooden lining. Photos and artwork coat the walls—_artist. Photographer? _A bunch of books line a shelf on the wall next to the door—_likes reading._

After exactly two seconds of that, the spy looks at Landes again. She is sitting on the relatively clean floor, back propped against her bed, legs crossed, drawing something on a sketchpad in her lap.

"Hey," Natasha says. "Landes, right?"

"Yeah." Landes smiles.

Nat laughs, then lies. "Sorry, I'm terrible with names."

"Me too," Landes replies.

"So what's up?" Natasha asks smoothly, breathing in, putting her hands on her hips, missing the weight of her guns that are usually mounted on her thighs.

"Nothing," Landes replies passively, casting her eyes to her sketch. "Just drawing."

"Cool," she says simply, then turns to examine Landes' previous artwork a little more. "These are really good."

"Thanks," Landes replies. "A couple of those aren't my best…"

Natasha scoffs slightly. "I can't tell. I couldn't do any of this even if my life depended on it!"

This makes the mark smile. Natasha takes this opportunity of happiness to ease her way into the conversation comfortably. She sits on the floor next to Landes, a little unsure of how to deal with an interrogation where the other person isn't threatening her. So Natasha decides small talk is probably the best option. She rubs her hands on her thighs, then asks, "So. Do you like school?"

Landes stops her drawing and shrugs. "It's all right. Nothing too exciting's been going on."

"Ah." Natasha nods in understanding, knowing she's lying through her teeth and doing it well. "So what kind of things do you like?"

Another shrug. "Photography, drawing, music, friends. That's my life." She smiles.

Natasha smiles also. "Do you mean listening to music? Or do you play an instrument?"

"I play cello."

"That is so cool! I know someone who plays cello," the spy replies. _I can do this, _she thinks, relaxing her shoulders. _This is what "normal" interrogations are like, after all, right? Just asking a question straight on? Yeah. I can get used to this._

[][][]

Upuli walks up the steps slowly with her hard cello case in hand. Before she rings the doorbell, she checks once again to see if she got the right house. When she's for sure that she does, she presses the button, causing a _ding-dong _to amplify through the house. When the door opens, she is met eye to eye with a man. He is tall, with extremely muscular arms and short brown hair that glints blonde in the light. Upuli finds her voice caught in her throat at the sight of him and his smile.

"Hi," the teacher named Clint greets kindly. "You must be Upuli!"

"That'd be me!" Upuli surprises herself with how cool and smooth her voice sounds, also impressed that he pronounced it right.

"Come on in," Clint says, opening the door wider.

Upuli smiles and enters, standing in the entryway while Clint shuts the door behind her. When she turns to observe the scene, her eyes almost bulge out of her head. Where does she even begin to describe it? Well, the far wall that peeks out from the backroom is completely made of glass—Clint likes to be able to see. There is a loft, with smooth black boards for stairs, and a thick silvery pole that connects them all. Upuli sees a the edge of a bed on the far end of the loft, as well as two doors and a glass desk. Formatted equally along the modern-shaped walls, there are large modern paintings, with geometric shapes colliding with another, creating a large palette of random colors and shapes. The colors are equally toned, though, colliding with the silver and black theme perfectly. The light fixtures are just as modern as the rest of it—circular balls hanging at different lengths from thin metal rods, or a stream of little lights in a line in the backroom. At this sight, she distinctly remembers Sam's text from earlier, who also got randomly transferred to this guy for a private lessons teacher: _Just got out of lessons with the new dude. And now, I let out my emotions. HOLY FREAKIN CRAPSLDKFRACKJLDAFUQ!? AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! And now, I faint and end up dying of heart failure. Possible shock. Will you speak at my funeral for me?_

Upuli is thinking about sending Sam that exact same text when she gets out of here.

When she feels Clint's eyes on her, she turns to him. He simply smiles. "Come on," he says, leading her to the backroom. In there she sees the entire glass wall, and she has to force herself not to stare in awe. On the end of the room she could not see earlier, there is a large flat screen TV. On a stand in the corner, is a beautiful cello, and a baby grand piano stands next to it innocently. And perfectly.

"Okay, you can unpack your cello over there," Clint says, gesturing to the wall opposite of his cello as he gets his own.

Upuli nods and obeys, almost afraid to turn away from the man for too long. _Well, this definitely promises some interesting times…_

[][][]

"Hello, class!"

All the new sub gets is a couple of weird looks from the jocks. One of the popular girls at the front gives him an innocent smile, and my friends and I just glance at him before continuing our conversation about Sam's new "incredible, scary, amazing, sexy, terrifying, and talented" new cello teacher. Then I do a double take. The new sub looks… familiar? No, how is that possible? I don't think I've ever seen him before…

"Does that guy look familiar to you?" I ask to no one in particular to my group of friends that share this class with me.

Several crane their necks to get a good look at the guy. None of them seem to think so, judging by their faces. But none of them get to answer verbally as Marcy (the popular girl at the front) shouts for the class to shut up.

"Thank you," the sub says gently, then speaks up. "I am Mr. Brown. I will be subbing your class for a while, as your teacher (including a few others) have gone on a business trip. Now I'm going to take role, so please say 'here' when I call your name."

I sigh and give my friends a look that clearly says _Joy, another one of _those _teachers… _I'm not sure what kind of teachers I'm referring to, but they get what I mean. A while later, when he's called on the entire class one by one (and we're all here), he continues.

"Okay. So the notes say that we are studying World War II. Would anyone like to explain to me what that war was about?" When no one answers, he has no choice but to call on somebody. "Sam? Do you want to explain about World War II?"

My friend freezes. She glances at Landes for help, then turns back to Mr. Brown. "Well, it was obviously the second one," she says in such a way that makes the class erupt with laughter.

Mr. Brown looks down and laughs. "Yeah, it was definitely that. Anything else?"

"I think it took place around the 1940s," Sam adds hesitantly. "And there was something about the Holocaust in there somewhere."

"Okay. Correct. It started in September, 1939, and took place in the early 1940s, ending by September, 1945. The war involved a vast majority of the world's countries, eventually forming two military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It is claimed to be the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million people serving in military units. It was hard. People claimed we were in a state of total war. Every country involved put everything they had on the line to help with the war: their economic industries, industrial industries, scientific capabilities…" He hesitates, and I smirk. "They put it all on the line in service of the effort on the war. Many significant events happened in the war, including the Holocaust. Including these events, the total fatality counting was over 50 million."

Mr. Brown swallows and stops, noticing that all the details are beginning to bore us to death. Well, everyone except for me, I guess. I turn and lay my head on my arms that rest on the desk, breathing out and trying not to smile or laugh. When _Mr. Brown_ goes on, Landes slips out a piece of paper, writes something on it, and slides it to my desk. I hide it as I always do, then read her written message: _What?_

I sigh, then smile, more widely than I intended, and pick up my pencil. Carefully and slowly, as if to be sure to make my observation accurate by the time I'm done, I write the reply. And when I slide the paper back to my friend, the line echoes in my head as I watch our substitute teacher.

_Captain America is our history teacher._

**Eheheheh! I'm no good at history, so I have to thank Wikipedia for the info on WW2. Stay tuned! The next chapter will be out shortly! Oh and review! They motivate me greatly. :]**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ello there! Guess what? I actually have something legitimate to say here. I am impressed! I didn't actually think I'd get this many viewers. So yay for accomplishments! Oh and also. Until this point, I have been extremely ahead of how quickly I've been publishing them. Over fall break, I wrote the previous four chapters and half of this chapter. That means, I've spent this entire busy week writing this. So this means that I might be publishing a bit slower than I've been doing recently. Although! Tomorrow is Friday, and Friday means we're close to the weekend, which means more free time to write! So perhaps next week will be the slow-publishing week. We'll see how it goes.**

**Oh! And JOHNNY IS BACK! If you don't remember who that is, then read on! He is in this chapter. He is mighty and ferocious. Fear Johnny.**

**And in thanks for all of the lovely reviews (**_**ahem!) **_**I have extended this chapter from my previous 5 page trend. This is almost twice as much as usual! So, for your consideration… *dramatic pause* Chapter 5.**

Chapter 5

Tony can hear his name from students before anyone even comes in the classroom. He looks over the lesson plan again, making a mental note to not get as sidetracked as they did in the previous period. He has had to teach two classes so far in Engineering and to this point, none of the kids have been in the Converse Club (the name the Avengers picked for the girls last night, seeing as they all wore Converse shoes in the video). Although, three of the four should be in this next class, which is good news.

He wonders momentarily how the others are holding up. Well, mostly Thor. He knows the other Avengers are big kids and can take care of themselves, but Thor? There was hardly anything he could do as a spy on this on this one. It's been a week since they've gotten the mission, all the while setting up their new positions in an extremely less populated part of the country, with hillbillies and cowboys and farmer's markets. They've been assigned their own houses, each one picked out specifically for each person on the mission. Throughout this past week they've been making themselves at home, going over aliases (well, everyone except for Tony. Since everyone knows who he is, he is here as himself. And Clint has his first name the same), lesson plans, installing new, tiny cameras around the field the Converse Club likes to use their powers on so they can watch, teaching Steve a couple of things about the history he's missed, and the things that… Thor has missed… which is everything. He is glad that they are finally starting the damn thing—teaching Thor everything he has to know has been a real pain.

According to the "staff meeting" the Avengers held last night, three of the four girls they interacted with yesterday seem fairly well-mannered and ostensibly innocent (although they haven't convinced Tony about that). They gained no new important information on them, except that Landes is an artist. Natasha told the story of Landes' brothers yesterday, and how they symbolized Thor and Loki. To this story, Thor remained silent. Especially after she told them that Luca won the game. That made everyone silent.

"Tony Stark?"

Tony looks up from the podium with notes that he's been shooting lasers into for who knows how long, to see a girl he doesn't recognize. A quick scan at the room shows him that several kids have taken their seats, whispering to one another and shooting Tony questioning looks. No sign of the Converse Club yet. He looks back down at the notes quickly and sifts through them, as if searching for something intently. "Yeah?"

"Whoa," is the kid's reply. "What are you doing… here?"

Tony looks up. "I'm doing research," is his reply with a quick smile before it vanishes. Well, it isn't completely a lie. The bell rings, and kids are running into class to take their seats, trying to not be spotted as late.

"Okay!" Tony starts with probably more enthusiasm than was intended. The class shuts up immediately. He scans the crowd and finds three familiar heads in the back corner. "Welcome to Engineering! If you didn't know, your teacher is currently absent, and will be for the next foreseeable future. That means a couple of weeks. Give or take. My name is Tony Stark—yes, the rumors are true. You may call me Tony, or Stark, or Mr. Stark—actually, no, I don't like the sound of that at all. Think of a cool nickname for me and if I approve well, then, have at it. I am here for no other reason than conducting research for a project that I will gladly talk to you about, should I ever feel like telling you. Good luck with that subject. Any questions?" He doesn't really give them a chance to reply. "Good. Okay, so! Since I will be here for a while, there are a couple of rules that I must cover. One, do not touch my stuff. Two, do not hand me things—I think there's a cute little plastic tray over in the back where you can turn your crap in. Three, do not touch that goldfish over there." He points toward the small fishbowl on the counter that has his new pet in it. "His name is Johnny, he is my new pet, and he is no one to be trifled with. He will bite."

"Goldfish don't bite," some kid replies plainly.

"_Well Johnny does!" _Tony says immediately, with a horrified expression on his face. "He is by far, the most ferocious creature I have ever come across in my days—which is plenty more than yours. Trust me, my aunt is in the hospital because of him."

"You don't have an aunt," another kid says flatly.

"Well, I do now."

With a quick breath, he looks back at the notes on top and starts calling names. They all reply with a "here" except for one, who is apparently absent (won't he be missing out on a lot?). Then he tells them all what they're going to do (group work on a house diagram, demonstrating how a simple parallel circuit of electricity in a house works!) and they get started on the project. He leaves it at that, and goes to his desk to pretend to look productive. About halfway through class, he decides he should probably be gathering _some _information concerning the Converse Club, since no one else really has and they're supposed to report their progress to Fury tonight. So he goes around the room checking on groups. Three of the Converse Club girls are in a group with a fourth, one he recognizes from the role sheet called Emily. When he has a conversation with a group next to the Converse Club Plus One, he overhears them talking quietly about him, then something about how it sucks to have fire because you're never exactly cold.

"Oh please," the new one—Emily—replies. "Think about me! I get migraines so easily. Wallcrawling wouldn't exactly be my first choice, what with all the dizziness I get being on the ceiling. Doesn't do me much good."

"Eh, at least it's something," Kylin points out, then gestures to the house diagram and everyone gets the message. When the Converse Club start talking in "science language" as Steve has offered to call it, Tony finishes up his argument over simple circuits with some stubborn kid and retreats back to his desk, where he pulls out his phone and sends a text to the Avengers: _They aren't the only ones._

[][][]

When school finally lets out, the eight of us rush to a bus to get to Upuli's house. Reason one: I don't have eight seats in my car, and I prefer to drive legally in the first couple of months I can actually have people in my car. Reason two: since I'm the oldest, I'm the only one out of the eight of us who has a license to drive people besides my family around. Reason three: I got grounded from my car. Reason four: Upuli's bus leaves the school right after school lets out. So getting us all to our lockers, the orchestra room, back and to the bus is a bit of a hassle. It's okay, though. This isn't the first time it's happened. When we board the bus, the first thing I notice is that Upuli has a different driver than usual. The driver I'm used to is an old guy with a beard. This guy is young, with long blonde hair and a smile that sends my heart to my throat.

"Hello, ladies," he greets as we pass him and take seats near the front—the only place where no one wants to sit. Fine by me. A seat's a seat. All of us greet him just as kindly as we sit down, all near each other. I shoot Upuli a look, mouthing, _he new?_ She looks at the bus driver again in the mirror at the front and then back at me, nodding urgently. _Never seen him before. _Hm. So, new babysitter, new cello teacher, three new teachers, and a new bus driver. And we're positive that at least two of them are Avengers. Maybe three. According to positive evidence? One. I need to meet this babysitter and cello teacher…

Once the buses are ready to go and they start leaving one by one, our bus lurches forward, throwing all of the kids into the seats in front of them. I hear the bus driver mutter something, but can't make out what. He almost runs the first red light, but stopping at the last minute, throwing us all around again. The bus driver continues to do stuff like this, until we're about halfway there. When I decide I can probably hold a conversation with this guy and he won't kill us all, I perk up in the seat, looking at him in the mirror so he can see me too. It's a good thing I chose to sit right behind him.

"Hey, are you new?" I ask.

He looks up at the mirror and we make eye contact, before he looks back to the road. "Why yes," he replies in such a tone that forces me to go along with it. And his voice… "This is my first day."

"Ah. I can sorta tell." I smirk. Usually, I don't talk to adults. That is, if they don't want to talk to me. But if they're willing to hold a conversation and attempt at enjoying themselves, then I'll always play along. I've had friends and enemies in the teachers from previous years—if you choose to be a witch, then so be it. If you choose to be awesome, then so be it. But so far, this guy's up on my liking meter.

"Do you drive this bus often?" he asks curiously, in reply to my last comment.

"Not really. But your driving is suggesting the other option…"

He laughs. "And what is your name?"

"Rachael. These are my friends, Landes, Em, Kylin, Upuli, Sam, Kidist, and Rayna. Upuli is the only one that actually regularly rides this bus."

"No, I do too!" Rayna interrupts.

"Oh, yeah. That's right. There are too many of y'all to keep up with." I smile.

The bus driver smiles, too. "So what are you all doing on the bus?"

"Headed to Upuli's house," I explain.

"Sounds like fun," he replies.

"Yep, we're planning on it…" I laugh. "So what's your name?"

"My name is Jonathan," he replies.

"Pretty nifty name," I say jokingly. Then we pull up to Upuli's stop. "We get off here, so we'll talk to you some other time," I explain to Nicholas. We all stand and start unloading. When I pass him, I stop. "Oh, and do you prefer to be called Jonathan or John?"

"Whichever you desire, I do not care." He smiles.

"John it is then." Then I get off the bus. My friends say goodbye to the new bus driver, then join me in the street.

"You having fun?" Kidist asks when she catches up to me, referring to the previous conversation. I don't reply. Instead, I hold my lips between my teeth, trying not to laugh. For the entire walk home, my friends pester me with questions, but I don't dare open my mouth until we are out of sight of the bus and hopefully all other people on Earth. But I can't hold it for that long, and when we are halfway there, I burst out laughing.

"W_hat is so funny!?" _Landes demands.

I can hardly control myself long enough to reply. And when I try to speak, another flood of laughter overcomes me. After a while, I just give up and make myself get over the laughter before I try. When I can speak, we're already to the house. So we go inside, set our stuff down, and I sit down in the entryway, still giggling.

"_Rachael! Please, tell me why you are laughing so hard! You have succumbed me to begging! " _Kylin pleads.

I smile, finally in control of myself. "This is actually really bad news!" I reply at last. "I'm not sure why it's so funny…"

"What is it?" Emily asks.

I sigh, the smile finally fading. "We're blown. People know about us. And they're trying to find out more."

The bewildered looks on my friends faces tells me that that was not what they were expecting.

"W-what?" Emily stammers.

"How do you know?" Sam asks.

"Well, to be honest, I'm pretty sure the Avengers were sent to spy on us."

[][][]

A couple of minutes later, we are in the field where we always go. And Upuli says, "So I figured out I have mind control."

We all spin on our heels, and stare with bewildered expressions.

"How?" Kylin asks.

"I'm not positive," Upuli replies. "But today in class, there was a fly that just wouldn't leave me alone. And I had that feeling that I could do something… So I did. I felt my mind lurch into his, and then with my eyes I watched him fall to the ground. But then I realized that I could control it, so I started flapping its wings and flying around. Then, of course, I made it go out the window."

We all continue staring, dumbfounded.

Then Kylin says, "Well, it definitely sounds like you controlled it."

"Do you think you can still do it?" Sam asks.

"Yeah! Actually, I've kinda been itching to do it again all day," Upuli admits.

"Then do it!" Landes says. When a bird flies by, Upuli and Landes smile at each other and Upuli tries sending her mind to the bird.

We all watch as the bird suddenly stills and drops to the ground. I look at Upuli and she is frowning. Then she gets her thinking face on, and I look back to see the bird standing up on the ground, then it takes off. A look of ease crosses Upuli's face, and suddenly she's smiling wide. After a couple of seconds, Upuli breathes in and turns at us, still smiling, obviously done.

Landes and I applaud her, and she bows dramatically. Then I look back at the bird to see it flying freely. Okay, well, so far she hasn't overridden anyone's mind and fried them. Maybe it's time to try it on a person?

"Do you want to try it on a person now?" I ask.

She thinks, looking in the direction the bird went. "Umm… sure…" she says slowly, then a smile creeps onto her face. "Any volunteers?"

"Ooh, I volunteer as tribute!" Sam calls, laughing.

"Okie dokie," Upuli replies. "Just don't be mad if I accidentally kill you, okay?"

An expression crosses Sam's face, but she wipes it clean before anyone can read it. "If I'll be dead, how will I be mad?"

"I don't know. You have your ways."

Sam laughs. "Okay, I'm ready. Do it."

Upuli wipes the smile from her face and focuses on entering Sam's mind. I look between the two, wondering what must be happening. Suddenly Sam's knees buckle and she falls to the ground. _What is with the falling? _Then, she lifts her hands and sets them against the ground and puts her weight on them, slowly lifting herself off the ground. Sam's expression is blank, eyes glazed over. I look at Upuli, and see her eyes narrowing in concentration. Then Sam's expression cools and she's smiling, but Upuli is still concentrating. Sam turns to Kylin, and says, "Hey, Kylin, guess what? Upuli is awesome."

I widen my eyes and smile, as does everyone else.

Kylin laughs. "Yes, she is!"

Then Upuli returns to herself, laughing uncontrollably. Sam stands in a shocked smile, her hand to her forehead.

"You okay?" Landes asks Sam.

"Yeah!" Sam replies. "I'm just… That was really weird."

"What was it like?" Emily asks excitedly.

Sam gestures toward Upuli. "See for yourself."

I'm jumping up and down now, like a kid in front of candy being held in front of their face, giggling. "Ooh, ooh! Me next!"

Upuli laughs. "Okay," she says, but is interrupted by Kylin.

"Wait! What's with the whole falling thing?" she asks.

"Oh! That'd be me," Upuli replies. "Well, actually, it's the other person. I don't know the exact moment when my mind goes into theirs, so I don't do anything at first. And since they're not in control of their body anymore, they fall. I think I have it figured out, though, so I'll try and fix that this time." She turns to me. "Ready?"

I smile excitedly. "Yep!"

"Okay," she replies. Then she focuses on me. Not three seconds later, I feel a surge in my mind that I've never felt before. It feels like someone has just kicked me in the back of the head, but only, _deeper. _I feel as if my mind is being shoved forward in my head, squished to let some room in. I feel my stomach drop, and I feel like I'm falling. _So this must be when the person falls. _Only, I don't fall to the ground. Although my vision foggy and unusual, I can see that Upuli has caught me this time. I feel my numb legs begin moving, and I feel as if I'm on a rollercoaster—strapped in while something jerky pulls me around. I suddenly get dizzy, and become aware that I am walking in circles with one hand on my hip, the other holding my chin as if I'm thinking intently. _Lovely, Upuli. Just lovely._

A couple of days ago, we were discussing each other's thinking faces and I told her how I'm never going to show mine around her. Now she is actually making me, just as I told her to do.

Suddenly she pulls out and reality is snapped back into my hands, and I almost fall forward at the sudden weight of myself that I have to hold up. I cough, blinking a couple of times, then stand and smile at Upuli, despite my aching head. "Nice touch," I say plainly.

"Thought you might like that," she replies, but then her smile slowly fades.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

She shrugs. "It's not right. I feel like there's something I'm missing. I mean, how am I supposed to control bad guys when I have to stare at them and have them fall and gather attention from others before I actually get them to do what I want? And how can I walk away cleanly when they know I've been in their head?"

"It just takes practice," Kylin replies. "I mean, you've only controlled two people so far! And you're already succeeding in reducing the fall. I think if we were given these gifts, we are bound to use them at some point, and by then we will be amazing at controlling them. Until then, though, we need practice. So, practice."

[][][]

About an hour later, we have all excelled in our abilities: Upuli can stop the falling, and we learned that the feeling of her presence in our heads can be reduced, perhaps one day to nothingness. The rest of us have learned nothing new, but are getting better at them all the same. Now, after being drained of our energy, we now lie around in the chilly grass either doing homework, those of us who have our instruments pluck the strings on our violins distractedly, or playing a nice game of deaf karaoke (where you put ear buds in and blare music so loud you can't hear anything else, then sing along with it, all the while someone has a video camera).

"_I want you back, I want you back. Want-want you, want you back—UH!" _Rayna sings extremely loudly and way off pitch, in an extremely thick country accent, just to change it up.

"_God, _Rayna, please change the dang song! You've done that one every round!" Emily says. Only Rayna can't hear her, only sees Emily's annoyance clear on her face and smiles innocently, then continues her singing, giving emphasis on the last word and clearly overdramatizing it. I know she can't help part of it—not being able to hear yourself and singing like this out of the comfort of your own privacy—is harder than you'd think. I know, because we've played this game four rounds so far. That means, the iPod goes around the circle and when it gets back to the first person, it's a round. And not to mention that we play this at sleepovers—oh, and that time when we were at an honors orchestra audition and were so bored waiting for the results to come up that we played this game. Yeah, got a couple of weird looks. Good thing we don't care that much!

When Rayna finishes the song, we all get tired of the game and just sit in our thoughts quietly for a couple of minutes. Suddenly, Kylin speaks.

"So are we just sitting ducks waiting for Loki, or what?"

When no one replies, we all come to a silent comprehension: are we actually _wanting _Loki to come? Is that why we're still here, playing deaf karaoke? Is that why we haven't left yet? Is that, perhaps, why we came here in the first place? I sigh. Why do we want Loki to come? To prove that when the eight of us are together, we are more powerful? That we can actually beat him? Ah, so many questions.

"I don't know," Rayna replies finally. "Do you guys want to get out of here?"

"Yeah," Landes says immediately.

"Me too," I say.

Slowly, all of us agree except Upuli. When she feels our stares upon her now, she finally gives in. "Yeah, let's go."

So we stand up, gather our things (which we took straight from the bus today), and head out. Ten minutes later, when we're back in Upuli's neighborhood, standing in front of her house, we see our bus driver. Yeah, the new one. Jogging?

"Hey, John!" I say, catching his attention.

He turns toward us and his eyes light up in recognition. "My friends!" he exclaims. "We meet again!"

"Yeah! Hey!" I reply, unsure of how to respond to his unusual way of speaking. "What's up?"

"I have just been on my evening jog," John says. "What about you all?"

"Just walking around," I reply with a shrug.

Suddenly Upuli's mother walks out of the house and walks down the driveway to where we are. She looks between John and us before Upuli introduces him. "Mom, this is John, our new bus driver."

"Hi," Mom replies, shaking his hand. (I refer to all of my friend's parents as Mom or Dad. Helps me feel even closer to them.) Mom kindly invites him inside for a cup of coffee, to which John happily accepts.

I sigh with a smile on my face as we follow them in the house. _This is gonna be good…_

**HAHA! Reviews are greatly appreciated. :] (I use this face because it is cute and fanfiction removes my smiley faces. Sad face. :[ )**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! So sorry for this being late. Like, really late. I lost the motivation I had to write everything previous to this in such a short amount of time. So, anyways, here's chapter 6! Oh and thanks to all of my lovely friends for pushing me on this chapter. I needed it! Thanks, guys! This story wouldn't be in existence if it weren't for y'all, literally! Okay, here you go. :] Sorry it isn't as good as the others, but it is important nonetheless!**

Chapter 6

"Okay, so, how was day one, everybody?" Bruce asks the Avengers, who are all sitting around a table at Tony's house.

"That was only day one?" Tony groans.

"Well, it didn't go as well as we planned, I think," Steve concludes.

"Uh, you think so, big guy?" Tony replies, then turns to the team. "Why the hell did Fury choose _us _to spy on teenage girls? They're freaking _teenage girls! _Of course they would know who we are!"

"Maybe we're missing the point," Natasha interjects. "What if it's not about the girls at all?"

"What if he only wants us to find Loki?" Clint asks.

"No, that doesn't make sense," Bruce replies. "Then why would he want us focusing on the girls and not Loki?"

"I don't know," Tony says. "The guy's hiding something. And I hate it when he's hiding something."

"Which is why you always hate him, I suppose?" Clint replies.

"Exactly. The guy always has secrets and it's bugging me."

"Well, then, let's get Fury on the line and see what he has to tell us," Steve interjects.

"Okay. Is there anything we are not sharing with Mr. Happy?" Tony asks.

"Mr. Happy?" Steve inquires quietly.

"Fury."

"Ah."

"I don't think so," Natasha replies to Tony's question. "We'll say what all has happened. We figured out that there are eight of them, and that they are training with each other. Anything else?"

"They seem really close," Clint muses, gesturing toward the cameras that play the footage of a few hours ago, where they all lie in a field, just hanging out.

"Alright, then," Tony says. "Jarvis, connect with Fury, please."

When the AI obeys with a "Yes, sir" and shows the line connect with Fury, Tony can't help but feel a little smug at installing his AI system into his house in the two hours he had after teaching an entire dreadful day at school. That is where all of the Avengers are now: Tony's new house.

"Avengers," Fury greets a few seconds after his face appears on the screened wall. "How was day one?"

"Enlightening," Nat replies first. "We learned that there are actually eight of them with powers. The footage we saw must have been a day when the others couldn't make it. We still don't know if they are the only ones who have them, but they are apparently pretty close of friends." She looks at the field footage of them, which is tucked in a file layout behind Fury's video. "You're in the hellicarrier, right?"

"That is correct," Fury says.

"Okay. So you have eyes in the school and the fields?"

Fury nods. "The whole little town. We're tracking their every move." He looks away from the screen for a moment. "Have you found any new information on Loki?"

"Negative, sir," Clint replies. "We haven't seen any Loki today. Have you?"

"Nope. What other information do you have for me concerning the jobs?"

"Um, the jobs went great, if your intent was to have them figure out we're the Avengers…" Tony rejoinders almost angrily, but coolly. "What was the plan? The real plan, I mean."

_What is Phase Two?_

Fury sighs, knowing how this went down last time. He makes a mental note to stop trying to play the Avengers. "The girls weren't the main reason you all were sent down there," he says truthfully. "They were defiantly something that needed to be investigated, but they were not our main concern."

"How could they not be your main concern?" Natasha breathes. "They are capable of everything Loki is!"

"Which is why this is a lot more serious than I had first thought," Director Fury replies. "Which is why, we need you all to find Loki before he gets through to them."

"You think that is a possibility?" Thor asks.

"Have we ever underestimated Loki?" Silence sifts through the room. "Now I know you've still got questions. For right now, just keep your acts up and find Loki. If you are sure the girls are out of hand, than you can neutralize them and bring them on board. Are we clear?"

He doesn't wait for an answer. The connection ends and the room is left in silence.

[][][]

~3 days later

_Flick._

The apple seed launches from Landes's spoon hits Mr. Johnson square in the face. Again. Only it isn't Mr. Johnson, as we have all figured out without much effort. Of course, it is the infamous Bruce Banner, the pioneer in gamma radiation, who can turn into an gigantic, green, angry monster if provoked. So naturally, what else do we do when we're bored in class?

_Mr. Johnson _stops his talking for a minute, turning to look at us with eyes narrowed, but we're acting completely natural. Me, looking like I'm doing the assignment but actually passing notes, Landes, reading the Algebra 2 textbook with a confused look on her face, and she turns to Rayna to ask for help on a problem. Kidist is occupying herself with Temple Run under the desk. Mr. Johnson huffs and turns away. When he does, my friends and I exchange glances, snickering quietly.

A knock on the door startles us out of launching yet anther seed. Landes hides the plastic spoon in her hoodie pocket, and I put my assignment over the notes. After some kid goes to answer the door, we are surprised to see Tony Stark peeking his head in.

"Hey, Johnson!" he says across the room, then enters, closing the door behind him. "How's the party going in here?"

"Tony? What are you doing?" Mr. Johnson/Banner asks.

"Just checking on you guys," Tony Stark replies with a shrug. "I got bored."

"Shouldn't you be teaching a class?"

"Well, yeah, but it seems like they know what to do so I thought I'd see how things were going in here."

I roll my eyes and turn back to my desk. After New York, when everyone thought for a while that the Avengers were vigilantes or something, I actually thought they were pretty cool. One might even call it—dare I say it—fangirling. And now, against all odds, when they're _here _out of nowhere for _us_, it seems like they are here for no more than another mission, and it ticks me off.

I go back to writing on the paper. _Can't today, got violin lessons. _I hand the sheet back to Rayna, who quickly writes out a reply.

_Ok, but we need to get together soon. It's big._

_How big?_

_Um, like Loki big._

"No passing notes, Ms. Highway." Stark suddenly appears next to me—_how long has he been there?—_and snatches up the paper.

"Hey!" I protest, reaching to grab the paper, but he holds it out of my reach. I scowl.

"What, is it important? Does your crush have a girlfriend?" Stark smirks playfully.

"I don't have a crush," I retort. "And it's none of your business."

"Shall I read it to the class?" Stark threatens, a little louder this time, catching the attention of others and holding it in front of him to read. His eyes scan over the paper, and my gut churns in hate.

Landes, huffing, stands up behind him and takes the paper from his hand. He lets it go, reluctantly, but he's already seen something. His eyebrows are raised, and he stands frozen, his stupid little smirk dead on his face. For a second or two, he looks like he's about to say something, but instead, he just turns and walks out of the room.

[][][]

Upuli walks through the field, her expression neutral. She runs her fingers down her long black braid thoughtfully. She hardly even notices when a dark-haired man falls into step beside her.

"You've made your decision, I presume?" Loki asks.

"I have," Upuli replies, slowing her pace but not looking at the Asgardian yet.

"You will join me?" he asks.

This time, she does stop to look at him. Her eyes hold complete seriousness. "I will _help _you. But keep in mind that I am doing none of this for you."

"I know where your intentions lie," Loki replies, continuing to walk in front of her. After a moment, she joins him.

"You know they're probably watching us now, right?" Upuli questions.

"I am aware. But they do not know we're here."

Upuli furrows her brows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You've been invisible from the moment you stepped outside of your house," Loki replies, smirking. "They cannot see either one of us."

The edge of Upuli's lip curves upward. "Oh. Nice." After a moment of Loki's satisfaction, she continues, looking at the ground. "So what happens now? Do I keep this a secret to my friends until later?"

"Yes," Loki replies. "Keep us quiet until we can strike from the right angle. I will not let this end up the way it did last time."

Upuli nods, knowing he means New York. With the two of them working on the same side, she knows that it will not turn out as it did more than a month ago. The two most powerful beings on Earth, now joined together… there is no way that the Converse Club, or the Avengers will stand a chance.

"Come, we have much to do," Loki says, turning and walking in a different direction.

"Where are we going?" Upuli asks.

"Training—the right way."

Upuli obediently follows her ally, her instructor. _Finally_, someone that understands her true potential. Upuli has known since she was little that she will be powerful—who knew that it would one day match equal to a god from another realm? The past few days have probably been the craziest of her life, with powers coming in and her not telling anyone. They are dark powers—powers she knows she can't share with any of her friends. They can be used for nothing more than evil. If _they_ knew… who knows what would happen. With Loki, she can live up to her legacy. Together, they can accomplish so much. Once Upuli has trained with Loki and their forces have combined… perhaps they truly will be unstoppable.

**Ooh! What have we here?! Haha and Tony's a jerk. Reviews are appreciated! Stay tuned! :D**


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